What is a sequence?

Table of contents

1. Creating a sequence
   1. Types of sequences
      1. Standard/action/override/logical input
      2. Comfort
      3. Tuneable white
      4. Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor/light sensor/IR remote
2. Editing a sequence
   1. Profile change action
   2. Override
   3. Delay
   4. Conditions
   5. Action
   6. Target
   7. Post action
3. Action types
   1. DALI command
   2. DALI arc level
   3. DALI emergency command
   4. Profile function
   5. General function
   6. Warn function
   7. Override function
   8. Store level to scene (memory dim)
   9. System variable
   10. Copy between two targets
   11. Restore from database value
   12. Colour function
   13. LED function
   14. Colour change (tuneable white sequences only)
   15. Set dim time (tuneable white sequences only)
   16. Set arc nudge method (tuneable white sequences only)
   17. Set arc nudge from system variable (tuneable white sequences only)
   18. Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor/light sensor/IR remote (relevant Tridonic DGC sequences only)
   19. Run Pharos trigger
   20. DMX function
4. Sequence templates
   1. Standard
      1. Default 10/15/20/30 minutes
      2. Memory dim 10/15/20/30 minutes
      3. Basic logic sequence
      4. Basic profile entry lights cleanup
      5. Basic profile entry lights cleanup with warn
      6. Enter meeting mode
      7. Exit meeting mode
      8. Absence detection 10/15/20/30 minutes (presence sensor)
      9. Unoccupied profile entry lights cleanup
   2. Tunable white
      1. Circadian rhythm
   3. Central battery
      1. Run a 90/180 min central battery duration test
      2. Run a central battery function test
   4. Tridonic DGC
      1. Set up Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor

A sequence is a list of actions which can be triggered via switches, sensors and other means. For more information on triggers, visit the FAQ on them. Sequences can be as complex or as simple as required but require a good understanding to unlock the full potential of them.

Creating a sequence 

Sequences are located under the Triggers & sequences perspective in the grid view. Creating a new sequence can be done by editing the label field of the last row. Sequences require a label and type to be created. The sequence editor is opened by default after creating a sequence unless the checkbox to do so is unchecked.

Sequence templates can also be used when creating a sequence to populate the sequence with predefined actions for the particular use case that the template is designed for. Checking the From template checkbox will display a dropdown of sequence templates that have been designed by zencontrol. Clicking any of these options will update the label of the sequence to the one provided from the template. A description of the template will also be displayed. Different sequence types can potentially contain different sequence templates.

If you created the sequence using a template then you will have actions populated for you already otherwise the sequence will be created as a blank slate with no actions.

Types of sequences

Sequences can be created with different types. Some action types are only available for certain types of sequences and others are purely used for categorising sequences and have no other effect.

Standard/action/override/logical input

These sequences types are all standard types and are used for categorising sequences. These sequence types will have all of the standard actions available. There are many different applications for these sequence types as they have many action types available for use.

Comfort

A comfort sequence has the same actions available as the standard types but a comfort sequence is designed to be used with a comfort trigger and target. It cannot be used with any other trigger type other than a comfort trigger type. See the Human Centric Light (HCL) FAQ for more information about comfort triggers.

Tuneable white

This sequence type includes action types specific to tuneable white fittings such as colour temperature and intensity change actions. This sequence type can only be used in conjunction with the tuneable white trigger type.

This sequence type can only have a maximum of 15 actions set for it. 

Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor/light sensor/IR remote

Tridonic sequence types are designed for configuration of Tridonic DGC based products only. They contain available actions specific to the type selected. They can only be used with trigger types that correspond to the sequence type.

Editing a sequence 

Sequences can be edited using the sequence editor. The sequence editor can be accessed by clicking either of the two pencil icons on a sequence row or opening the actions dropdown. Actions can be reordered by clicking the row number on the left to select the whole row and then click and drag the row number up or down the list.

An action has two main parameters, a delay in seconds and a command to send. Each action will count its delay before executing the command.

Profile change action 

If a sequence is running and a profile change occurs and the sequence is still valid in the new profile (ie, there is a trigger entry for both profiles for this sequence), the user can set a profile change action to jump to, upon entering this profile.  The most common application for this is a during hours / after hours migration where there is a desire for all occupancy controlled rooms (that are still on) to go into "warn", regardless of where they are, when transitioning to after hours.

Override 

When a sequence is triggered again whilst it is already running it will run the override behaviour for the current action that the sequence is executing. This is usually going to a different action but can also be ignored so the sequence will continue to run from where it currently is.

Delay 

The delay columns have a type and value. If the type is set to seconds then the delay will be a number in seconds before the action is ran. If the type is set to percentage of day light then the number will be a percentage of time between sunrise and sunset.

The delay value can either provided as a user-defined value or a system variable value. User-defined values are a fixed delay set in the sequence editor when creating the sequence.

Using system variables as delays

System variables store values that can be used to determine how long to delay an action in a sequence. There are 3 ways to select which system variable to select for the delay:

• System variable: Select a system variable by system variable number, and use its value as the delay.
• Associated target and tag: Select the system variable with the matching associated target & tag combination, and use its value as the delay.

e.g. The associated target and tag below

will use the value of system variable 2 (60) as the delay because it has a matching associated target and tag.

• Inherited associated target (from trigger) and tag: Select the system variable where the associated target matches the trigger target, and the tag. This means that a single sequence can have different delays depending on the trigger target that started the sequence. 

E.g. If we wanted to set up a sequence that will dim lights after an occupancy sensor hasn't been triggered for a specified amount of time. We want group 0 to wait 15 minutes before dimming and group 1 to wait 20 minutes before dimming. With inherited associated target we can do this with 1 sequence.

Step 1: Set up the system variables 

• System variable 0:
  • Value: We will interpret this as 840 seconds in the sequence, giving us a 14 minute delay.
  • Associated Target: Group 0. The target the trigger will use.
  • Tag: 0. A value to identify which system variable to use. In this case all our tag 0 system variable are delays for max arc level.

• System variable 1:
  • Value: 60. We will interpret this as seconds in the sequence, giving us 1 minutes.
  • Associated Target: Group 0. The target the trigger will use.
  • Tag: 1. In this case we are using tag 1 to define our warn delay.

• System variable 2:
  • Value: We will interpret this as 1140 seconds in the sequence, giving us a 19 minute delay.
  • Associated Target: Group 1. The target the trigger will use.
  • Tag: 0. A value to identify which system variable to use 

• System variable 3:
  • Value: 60. We will interpret this as seconds in the sequence, giving us 1 minutes.
  • Associated Target: Group 1. The target the trigger will use.
  • Tag: 1. In this case we are using tag 1 to define our warn delay.

Step 2: set up the sequence

We decided earlier that tag 0 would be our delay at max arc.

We decided earlier that tag 1 would be our warn delay.

Step 3: set up the triggers

Now if trigger 1 starts the sequence, its target (group 0) and the sequences tag (0) will be used to get the value in system variable 0, delaying for 840 seconds.

By default, the delay will be set to the value of the system variable at the start of the sequence. The use updated value on system variable change checkbox can be selected to allow the sequence to use the new value of the system variable if it changes while the sequence is running. 

Conditions 

Conditions specify what requirement must be met in order for the action to run - otherwise, the prescribed action will be skipped and the sequence will continue on to the next action instead.  This is evaluated after the delay.  This is generally a one-time evaluation, but the user can set the checkbox Block until condition true which will wait until the condition requirements are met.

Action 

The action is what will happen when the sequence reaches this point after the delay time has been exceeded and the conditions for this action are met. There are many types of actions that can be set in a sequence which allows for many scenarios that sequences can be useful for.  The available actions may differ based on the type of sequence set. The different action types are listed under this section.

Target

A remote target can be set for a sequence which will execute the action on the selected target. This field cannot be set for tuneable white or comfort sequences. This function became available in firmware version 0.11 and will not function on previous versions.

The conditions for the action will be evaluated on the target control system that the sequence is targeting, not the control system that is running the sequence.  If you wish to send an action to a remote target as a result of a local condition, two actions will be required.

Action 1: Evaluates local target condition and jumps to a new action

Action 2: Run remote target action (ie, GO TO SCENE 2)

Post action 

Once the action has been run (or skipped by not meeting conditions) it will run the behaviour specified in the post action field.

Action types

There are many different action types that can be selected in the sequence editor. Some action types are only available for certain sequence types. Some action types have a regular type and an override target type. The regular type will use the target that is passed in from the trigger to run the action on. If an override target action is selected then the action command will run on the specified override target instead.

DALI command

A selection of DALI specified commands.

DALI arc level

Sets the arc level of the target to the given value. If enable dim time is checked then will dim to the given level over the specified number of seconds.

DALI emergency command

A selection of DALI specified emergency commands.

Profile function

Contains actions for changing to a profile or returning to the scheduled profile. If the profile selected to change to is already the currently active profile it will be reloaded and the profile on entry triggers will be triggered again. Unless the action selected ignores priority then you will not be able to enter a different profile that has a higher priority than the currently active profile.

General function

Contains miscellaneous functions that are not specific to other categories.

The trigger standard sequence action will not re-trigger the same sequence if it is a standard sequence that is currently running and will just ignore the action.

Warn function

Warn functions are used to specify to the control system that the group is about to time out in occupancy. This ensures that light sensor dimming will not occur during this time. This can be set to recall min or to go to a specific arc level.

Override function

Locks out the specified target for a given amount of time. A delay time of 0 will remove the override if possible.

Store level to scene (memory dim)

Stores the current arc level to scene 15 which is the memory dim scene.

System variable

Contains functions for system variable functionality. The commands are used for storing/restoring values to system variables or setting them to specific values. These are useful for storing values for use later on in the sequence or in other sequences to compare the value in a condition check for an action.

Copy between two targets

Used to copy the current value of a property from one target to another.

Restore from database value

Restores the value of a property to a target from the stored value. Can be used if the value was copied from another target and you want to restore the currently stored value instead.

Colour function

Includes a range of colour functions to be used with DT8 devices. Some of the functions contain an optional dim time. This dim time is an independent for each channel which can have varying values or delays. The dim time will be executed after the delay for the action has been executed. Subsequent dims can still be executed whilst the first dim is running. The dim time and delay between subsequent dims must be considered when using these functions.

If a sequence is cancelled through another sequence or a cancel on trigger then any running dims will also be discontinued. If a sequence ends naturally it is possible for a dim to continue running and there is no way to cancel it. If this behaviour is undesirable then an action must be inserted at the end of the sequence to keep the sequence alive until the dim has ended.

LED function

Sets the LED state of a switch or absolute input using either the inherited target taken as input by the sequence or a direct instance target.

Colour change (tuneable white sequences only)

Changes the colour of the fitting to the specified temperature and intensity using the given transition of fading between the colour or going straight to it. There are two other actions for changing only the temperature and another for changing only the intensity.  When a target is under intensity control via a tuneable white sequence, any occupancy sequence ON commands will be modified to use the current intensity specified in the sequence, allowing seamless integration with other sequence functionality.

Set dim time (tuneable white sequences only)

Sets the dim time period for colour change transitions.

Set arc nudge method (tuneable white sequences only)

This action is to be used in conjunction with set arc nudge from system variable. This action should be set at the start of the tuneable white sequence along with set arc nudge from system variable.

Sets the specified arc nudge method which will step up if the lux goes up by the given amount/percentage or will step down if the lux goes down by the given amount/percentage. If the inverted checkbox is ticked then this behaviour is inverted - it will step down if the lux goes up by the given amount/percentage or step up if the lux goes down by the given amount/percentage.

The amount in which the fitting steps up or down as well as which system variable to read the lux level from is specified in the set arc nudge from system variable action.

Set arc nudge from system variable (tuneable white sequences only)

This action is to be used in conjunction with set arc nudge method. This action should be set at the start of the tuneable white sequence along with the set arc nudge method.

This action will step up or down if the lux value that is stored in the given system variable changes by a certain amount which is specified in the set arc nudge method action that should be set along with this action. The step count is how many steps to step up or down when the arc nudge method is condition is met. The period is a time in seconds that specifies how long the arc nudge is ran for until the arc value is reset back to the projected arc level dim for the tuneable white sequence.

Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor/light sensor/IR remote (relevant Tridonic DGC sequences only)

For more information on Tridonic DGC functionality, refer to the Tridonic website.

Run Pharos trigger

For example, to run Pharos trigger 6 with a target of 192.168.1.100 Port 8888 the controller will send "start_timeline_00006\r" to IP address 192.168.1.100 at Port 8888.

DMX function

Sequence templates

Standard

Default 10/15/20/30 minutes

Turns the lights off after the given amount of minutes if there is no activity detected on the sensor after going to warn level for 1 minute. It relies on the sequence being called whenever a sensor is triggered although can be used on a switch for running the sequence onec. The action overrides will reset the delays back to the start when it is triggered.

Memory dim 10/15/20/30 minutes

Similar to the above default template except it will store the current levels to the memory dim scene, use recall min instead of go to warn and recalls the memory dim levels when the sequence is triggered.

Basic logic sequence

A very simple sequence that showcases how logic can affect the flow of a sequence. Generally won't be used in a real world case but is useful for getting an idea of how you can use logic in your own sequences.

Basic profile entry lights cleanup

Designed to be used for a profile on entry sequence. It will turn off any lights that are currently turned on. Useful for when your running sequence requires the lights to be in a certain state at the start of the sequence.

Basic profile entry lights cleanup with warn

Similar to the above cleanup sequence but recalls min for 60 seconds before the off command is sent.

Enter meeting mode

Disables automatic lighting control from PIR sensors and enters scene 0. Useful for meeting or presentation modes where you want the lights to be at a certain level and in a certain scene. Should be used in conjunction with exit meeting mode sequence template below to restore automatic lighting for PIR sensors.

Exit meeting mode

Should be used in conjunction with the above enter meeting mode template. Used to restore automatic lighting control for PIR sensors after your meeting or presentation has concluded.

Absence detection 10/15/20/30 minutes (presence sensor)

Turns the lights off after the given amount of time of inactivity, simulating absence. Should be used on sensor that are in presence mode as absence mode sensors should work as normal without this template. Will recall min as warn for 1 minute before turning off.

Unoccupied profile entry lights cleanup

Turns off any lights after some time if no motion is detected. If the target has already been unoccupied for some amount of time when the sequence starts then it will turn them off straight away. The lights will turn to warn a short time before they are completely turned off. If movement is detected during this sequence, it will continue to the normal profile instead of turning off any lights. This template is design to be used in a profile on entry sequence.

Tuneable white

Circadian rhythm

Changes the colour temperature of the lights over the course of the day to follow a circadian rhythm. The lights will start off in a warm white, slowly change to a cool white around the middle of the day and end on a warm white towards the end of the day. This will help to emulate natural sunlight in otherwise unnaturally lit indoor environments that can help boost alertness, productivity and more.

Central battery

Run a 90/180 min central battery duration test

Tests a central battery system but keeping it on for the duration and ensuring that it doesn't fail by losing power at any point or any other fault. There are some requirements for this sequence to run without issues. For more information on setting up central battery tests, visit our FAQ.

Run a central battery function test

Similar to the above duration test template but runs on a very short duration to test that the system is functional rather than ensuring that the system will run for a given duration.

Tridonic DGC

Set up Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor

Commissions a Tridonic DGC occupancy sensor using the given values. These are commonly used values that should fit most cases but they can be altered for certain circumstances.